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Goals: Why they’re necessary and how to make one

Goals are crucial to self-improvement

Goals aid us in our understanding of what it is that we must improve upon; meaning that goal setting is crucial to self-improvement. When setting goals for myself, I like to make sure that it covers a few criteria first.

I, and many others believe that there are four basic tenets to goal setting. These are;

Don’t set BS goals

The purpose of a goal is to induce growth. With that, a goal that covers the bare minimum, while it will induce growth, is a wast of time. Go big or go home in other words. Big goals have a habit of pushing us to do better.

Example:

I want to reach 6 figures in savings by death. That’s a decent goal, but don’t you think that it’s possible to reach 1 million? Instead aim for 1 million by death. By doing this, we’re forced to put in way more effort than we ever would’ve if we were only working for the 6 figures. Mainly because we know that it’ll be difficult. (Some people say set “realistic” goals but I don’t really agree. I’m a strong believer in the idea that we can do whatever we put our minds to. Some things are just waaaaayyy harder to do.) If you want to grow at an exponential rate, just set a big challenging goal.

Be S.m.a.r.t. about the goal

Specific

What exactly do you want to do? In other words, rather than say, “I want to be rich by the time that I die.” or “ I want to make a lot of money next year” say, “ I plan on having 6000000 by the time I die” and “My goal is to increase my net worth by 50000 next year”. I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on monetary goals because that can lead to unwise decision making, but that’s just me. Another thing to think about would be the way in which you’re going to reach your goal and why.

Don’t reach for what you can’t measure

You can’t enhance what you can’t measure. I couldn’t remember the specific quote but, but you get the gist. When making the goal remember, “what will tell you that you’ve reached your goal. For the example with money it would be checking your account and seeing the money in there.

Is it at all possible? I’m all for setting very difficult goals but remember to consider this. An example of a possibly un-achievable goal would be; I want to fly to the moon in a personal rocket ship in about 5 years. I mean, yeah it would be possible with a lot of time (I believe) This goal is definitely motivating, but it’ll be a bit difficult(depending on how much capital and time you have)

Realistic

Look at achievable(Above)

Timely

Do you have a specific time objective in mind? Example: instead of saying, “I want to go back to school” say, “I plan on going back to college in 3 years” *instead of putting 3 years I suggest putting an actual date. This way you have a deadline and further motivation.

Develop the actual plan

How will you reach the goal? What resources will you need to reach it? How much time will you need? Consider these things when forming the actual plan.

Don’t chicken out

Stick with it. If you say you’re going to do something, you’re going to have to do it. If you set a goal for yourself you must do whatever is within your power, and the confines of the law, to reach it.

I understand how hard it is to reach a goal if it’s not detailed. It’s easy to blow it off, it’s easy to forget. Don’t. Stay focused, remember what you want, stay flexible, and go get it.